Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. Carl Ridd, a citizen of Winnipeg and of the world who died last Saturday.

As a young man he was known as King Carl for his excellence on the basketball court, playing with Canada's Olympic team in 1952. His love for basketball was great, but his love for justice and for the truth was even greater. As a professor of religious studies, a Christian in the prophetic tradition, and a social and peace activist, he made his mark on our community. His last public act was to oversee a protest against the war in Iraq on February 15.

As a friend, former student, and fellow Christian struggling to see the world as God would have us see it, I am sure I speak for many in Winnipeg when I express sincere condolences to Carl's wife Bev and his family. His enthusiasm for life will be an ongoing inspiration to all who had the good fortune to know him.

Mr. Speaker, April 1 is Invisible Work Day. I want to pay tribute to the contribution made by all the women and men who work behind the scenes, particularly those who work in the home and volunteers in the community.

Close to 70% of the work accomplished in our society is unpaid work done by women. Statistics Canada estimates the annual value of unpaid work to be between $235 billion and $374 billion.

I am taking this opportunity to make hon. members, and particularly the federal government, aware of the need to recognize invisible work. The lack of measures remains an obstacle for women and, all too often still, it traps them in a spiral of poverty.

My Bloc Quebecois colleagues join me in paying tribute to the women and men who work behind the scenes to help build our society.

Mr. Speaker, today, April 1, is a history making day in Canada's nation building. Today most of the residual provincial type powers have been transferred from the federal government to Yukon. Another great part of our Confederation has come of age. Now Yukoners, like all other Canadians, can manage our own natural resources, our own minerals, our own forests, our own lands and our own waters.

With great authority comes great responsibility but Yukoners are no strangers to great challenges, and we will prevail and thrive as we have for centuries.

It is therefore with great joy and gratitude that we accept the key to our own destiny and the fulfillment of our dreams.

Mr. Speaker, this week in Ottawa, 4-H members from all across the country are attending the National 4-H Citizenship Seminar.

Those of us who have had the opportunity to be leaders in the 4-H movement, fully realize the value of being a member of this great national organization which instills such values in our youth. Pledging heart, head, hands and health for the betterment of the country is a laudable initiative.

We congratulate the leaders, the organizers and the sponsors of this event. We welcome all of them to the seminar, especially those from the great district of St. John's West and, on behalf of my colleague, of South Shore.

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, Chatham's own Shae-Lynn Bourne and Vancouver's Victor Kraatz were victorious at the World Figure Skating Championships in Washington, D.C., coming home with the gold medal.

This victory crowns 13 years of outstanding Canadian athletes skating into our hearts, our arenas and Canadian history. The couple has appeared in three Olympic games, nine world championships and they hold 10 Canadian titles. The win represents Canada's first ice dance title in 51 years of championships. I can think of no better way to retire than carrying the world title as champion.

I congratulate them on their tremendous win and flawless, outstanding performance in Washington. I wish them well in their future endeavours. They have made us all proud.

Mr. Speaker, on March 22, the second edition of the show “Les Divas du Québec” was presented in Quebec City. The purpose of this blockbuster artistic event is to underscore and promote the cultural involvement of Quebec female singers in the Francophonie.

This time the show featured 17 Quebec performers with powerful and remarkable voices. Another goal of the event was to support the Quebec breast cancer foundation.

This top-notch artistic event was produced under the direction of Nicolas Lemieux, from the Agence Sphère. Mr. Lemieux, who is a resident of the Quebec City neighbourhood of Les Saules, created his agency two years ago and he has quickly established himself as one of the top producers in Quebec.

Mr. Lemieux is to be commended for his ongoing commitment to producing original and professional shows, and his involvement in the promotion of humanitarian causes.

Mr. Lemieux's determination to become a successful producer of high quality shows and his willingness to lend his expertise to a humanitarian cause should be an inspiration for all young entrepreneurs in Canada.

The best moments of the show “Les Divas du Québec” will be presented on Mother's Day, May 11, at 10:30 p.m., on TVA.

Mr. Speaker, according to Elections Canada, only 25% of eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 24 voted in the last federal election. All parties in the House and indeed all citizens should be doing all they can do to encourage young Canadians to get involved in the political process.

At noon this Sunday, April 6, as part of the Juno celebrations here in the national capital region, a number of leading Canadian artists will lend their support to “Rush the Vote”, a national initiative that encourages young Canadians to become more aware and to effect change through their direct participation.

“Rush the Vote” will be launched with a block party in downtown Ottawa on Laurier Avenue, with live musical performances by Juno nominated artists, celebrity appearances and electoral information. I invite all members and all young Canadians to come out and help “Rush the Vote”.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Art Thompson, the renowned aboriginal artist from the west coast of Canada.

He earned international recognition for a particular form of aboriginal art. Thompson is known for drawing attention to the free-spirited style of artists of the west coast of Vancouver Island, through his attention to detail and mastery of technique. Of a generous nature, he shared samples of his work and gave technical demonstrations, which also helped this form of art gain recognition.

A member of the Nitinaht first nation, Thompson actively supported the aboriginal people, dedicating time and energy to this cause and denouncing the treatment he received in residential schools.

Mr. Speaker, the issue of war requires moral leadership. We believe the government should stand by our troops, our friends and our allies and do everything necessary to support them right through to victory.

Others believe that the war is unjust and cannot condone putting our service personnel in mortal danger for a cause they do not believe in.

Which position of moral leadership does the Prime Minister intend to give to our military personnel: to bring them home or to back them up?

Mr. Speaker, we have a lot of people in that part of the world and they are fighting the war against terrorism. We have four ships in that area at this time. We have planes. They are involved in fighting terrorism and getting ready to move into Afghanistan in the months to come. It is the position of the government that we are supporting them. We appreciate the extremely good work they are doing there.

In the case of Iraq, we do not have soldiers there but there are a few who are part of an exchange program. They are performing their duties according to the agreement signed between the two countries.

Mr. Speaker, a real leader does not put his troops in the field and then wash his hands of their cause.

The defence minister said yesterday that Canadian troops were in combat but not really in combat. He said that they were armed but not allowed to fire. He said that they were in the war theatre but not really participating.

Why is the Prime Minister so incapable of being upfront about his position on this war?

Mr. Speaker, we were very clear a year ago when we said that there would be no participation of Canadians in a war in Iraq if it were not approved by the Security Council. We were very clear. We said that to everybody. We delivered on what we said to the Canadian people and to the Americans and the British.

I had many discussions with the President of the United States and with the Prime Minister of Great Britain and there was no confusion at all. They knew Canadians would not participate unless it was approved by the Security Council.

Mr. Speaker, it may not be so clear to our troops as the bullets fly over their heads.

In the beginning, this government said that Canada would not take part in the war against Saddam, but our soldiers are taking part in it. The government also said that Canadian soldiers were not in Iraq, but now we know that they are. It finally admitted that our Canadian soldiers were in Iraq only to support the effort. Now we know they are there in combat.

Mr. Speaker, we have already told Canadians that there are, I believe, 31 soldiers on exchange programs that have been underway for several months with American, British and Australian troops. These are exchanges that have taken place between the various countries for generations.

When someone is on one of these exchanges, he or she must follow the rules of the troops to which he or she is assigned. Clearly this is a very limited number of Canadians who are carrying out these duties. As is always the case with Canadian soldiers, they are carrying out their duties very well.

Mr. Speaker, SARS is a health issue that is significantly important to Canadians. The Ontario government has taken preventive steps. However, when the federal government was asked by the World Health Organization to screen all outgoing passengers, the minister said no.